Hanging By A Moment
by Molly9
Summary: Kim returns to Angel Grove five years after leaving, but she doesn't return quite the same person she was when she left...


Disclaimer: The only one so far that's mine is Brian.p  
  
Author's Notes: I've been waiting a very long time to have this up so I hope it's enjoyed. Thank you to Shay, ScarletDeva, Cheryl Roberts, Dagmar, and Ozmandayus for being good friends and wonderful writing inspirations.p  
  
BTW, the fic is rated PG-13.p  
  
On with the show! p  
  
  
  
Hanging By A Momentp By: Mollyp  
  
  
  
Chapter Onep  
  
Reality flooded back into Kimberly's mind as his tender lips gently broke away from hers. p  
  
*Whoa..did they just--?*p  
  
*No way.*p  
  
Her body was still shivering--like a thousand tiny jolts of electricity had invaded her nervous system in a way that could only be described as delicious.Her heart was reeling with every uneven beat. Her head was spinning; quickly recapping the moment's events.p  
  
His supple lips caressing hers in an incredibly delicate manner--like an angel blowing it's heavenly breath across her lips; giving her life in a subtle but wonderful way.p  
  
She then lifted a shaky hand up to softly caress his cheek in hopes that he would not pull away. Taking her cue, he lightly brushed his moist tongue against her lips and parted them in a sensual manner. A tiny gasp escaped Kim's mouth as he did this.p  
  
For the next ten seconds, their tongues caressed each other in the most intimate of ways; softly and slowly twirling around; his lips gently tugging at her.p  
  
The desperate need for breath won over their sudden passion. His deep brown eyes were locked on hers and she could slightly feel his warm breath on her face.p  
  
Tommy Oliver had kissed her many times.p  
  
But never like this. It had been so incredibly soft--yet so...intense. p  
  
Kimberly was sure she had felt Heaven for the first time in her life. p  
  
*This is just too good to be tr--*  
  
...And it was. Tommy was now facing forward; away from her; blinking in confusion. He swallowed hard before he turned his head to face hers again. p  
  
His eyes once again locked on the gaze that never left him. *Was that... regret in his eyes?*p  
  
"Kim, I..", Tommy started as he placed his hand on her knee. p  
  
It was now Kim's turn to blink in confusion.p  
  
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have done that-", Tommy continued; nervously running his fingers through his now-spiky-and-darker hair. His voice was shaky.p  
  
That was the most amazing kiss she'd ever experienced; the fantasy that had gotten her through five years of sheer torture; she didn't want it to end like this!p  
  
"No--please--don't be-", Kim pleaded, grimacing.p  
  
But Tommy continued as if he hadn't heard her.p  
  
"--I way overstepped my bounds; I mean, we're both involved!", Tommy scolded himself; throwing himself down on the bed in the guest room of the Sloan's house that they had been sitting on. "Man, Kim, I don't know what came over me...it sounds so cliche, but I guess I just got caught up in the moment.."p  
  
Kim didn't know what to say. All of her thoughts and emotions were overwhelming her--it was hard registering it all.p  
  
Tommy shifted the hand that he had pressed against his forehead in frustration so that he could now look at her. "I'm sorry--did..did you say something?"p  
  
Kim fought to control the tears threatening to spill over her eyelids and to desperately settle her breathing so that she could speak. p  
  
She shrugged. "I.."p  
  
Her emotions were winning. "I need to be alone.", Kim said as she briskly walked out of the room; leaving Tommy scared and confused.p  
  
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Kim's first instinct was to run out the back door, but that would involve her going downstairs and the others would see her and they would all know something went wrong. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself; after all, she had been trying her best to stay as invisible as possible the whole evening. p  
  
Luckily, though; she spied an open door to a bathroom across the hall and quickly ran into it and locked the door behind her. She slowly slid down to her knees against the closed door as the sobs she had choked back now broke free.p  
  
*******************************  
  
"What have I done?", Tommy whispered painfully to himself as he lied there on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. p  
  
When he led Kim up to the guest bedroom to talk to her, he definitely had no intentions of ever kissing her. They hadn't even seen each other in five years; nothing had been discussed as far as where they stood with each other.  
  
They needed catching up to do, and it had to be done in privacy; where they couldn't be interrupted or distracted. p  
  
But when he saw her standing across the room, she took his breath away. She was by herself holding a can of Vanilla Coke in her hand, gazing out the window. She was wearing a tight-fitting, flared pair of low-rise denim jeans and a tight, baby doll-style black t-shirt studded with rhinestones which left about three inches of her tanned, flat abdomen showing.Her hair was now a couple inches past her shoulders with some shorter layers framing her face that tapered down to the length..and it looked like it had the tiniest hint of blonde highlights. She was still very brunette, but the subtle blonde had given her a brighter look which was very flattering; especially with her bronzed tan. p  
  
*Wow*, Tommy thought. Kim had always made his heart race, but he had never seen her looking so beautiful...p  
  
..Yet so..disturbed? It didn't take Tommy long to catch on that something was wrong. Kim was always quite the social butterfly, yet she had been standing alone..and they were all her friends; people very familiar to her. Why was she being so distant?p  
  
Despite the vibes he instantly picked up on; Tommy could still feel the heat rising in his cheeks by gazing at her.p  
  
*She still gets to me.*p  
  
****************************  
  
  
  
Kim wiped her tears with a piece of tissue from the bathroom. p  
  
It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to regret the moment she had so desperately yearned for. *Surely he felt it too..? I mean, he wouldn't have just kissed me like that--Tommy never acted on spontaneity.*, Kim thought. p  
  
*I shouldn't have ever come to this party* It was harder being there than she ever thought it would be. She had convinced herself; or tried; rather, that as soon as she was around the 'gang', she would act as normal so that no one would know that she was now nothing more than the bruised shell of her former self. *He's changed me*, Kim thought of her current boyfriend; the man she had left Tommy for so many years ago. *He's totally broken my spirit*.p  
  
Admitting that to herself was most definitely the moment of truth; it was the first time she had been honest with herself for a very long time. p  
  
And as much as she had tried to hide it, she knew; albeit deep down, that her friends had noticed a change.p  
  
*Why did I have to come here? Why did I have to see Tommy again?* , Kim thought as she began to recall the evening's events.p  
  
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Kim nervously stood by the bay window in the Sloan's dining room, her eyes fixed on the sunset.p  
  
Occasionally she would glance at the crowd in the living room in which the dining room opened up to, but for the most part she tried her best to make sure she didn't make eye contact with anyone.p  
  
She was so angry at herself she was near tears standing there, staring out the window. *Why do I feel so anxious around them, of all people?*p  
  
"Hey Stranger."p  
  
Kim's eyes darted up to meet the face of the man standing in front of her. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the tan, handsome figure saunter over to meet her.p  
  
Kim blinked in astonishment--he had changed so much! It took her a few moments to recognize the strikingly good looking man standing next to her.p  
  
Tommy chuckled in amusement. "What; you don't recognize me?"p  
  
To be honest; she almost didn't. He had traded in his long, past-the- shoulders locks for a short, very trendy, spiky cut, which actually looked considerably darker than his original hair color, unless that was the cause of the hair gel. He also now had a goatee on the base of his chin; shaved fairly close to his face.p  
  
She never thought she could live without seeing Tommy without that gorgeous long hair that she loved, but this was much better than she expected. p  
  
*Wow*, Kim thought. *It really works on him*.p  
  
"No--it's just that--", Kim could barely come up with an excuse before Tommy enveloped her in a bear hug.p  
  
Tommy looked into her eyes when they finally released. "I missed you, too, ", Tommy said in an almost whisper; flashing Kim that smile that drove her crazy; amused again by her still-noticeable shock.p  
  
"I'm sorry.", Kim said when she finally found her voice. "I really missed you too..a lot.", she admitted sheepishly. Was that a hopeful expression on his face?p  
  
There was definitely something wrong with Kim--he knew his intuition had not been wrong. The way she tensed when he hugged her--it took several seconds for her to relax in his arms, the look in her eyes...it was fear, almost; and why would Kim be afraid of him? He had to know what was going on, and he had a good indication it would take some time.p  
  
"You know; we've got a lot of catching up to do--and it's pretty noisy down here; what do you say we sneak upstairs to one of the bedrooms for some privacy so we can talk?", Tommy suggested.p  
  
Kim nodded. "Okay.", she said; albeit a bit hesitantly. He put his hand on her back and led her up the stairs and into a nearby bedroom. p  
  
"Soo...", Tommy began as he gestured for Kim to take a seat on the foot of the bed right before doing the same. "What have you been up to?"p  
  
It was hard for Kim to make direct eye contact with him even at such a routine question. "Nothing much...just visiting for a few days."p  
  
"So Florida's treating you pretty well, I take it."p  
  
"Not bad. I miss home though. There's no where I'd rather be than in Angel Grove."p  
  
"So come back."p  
  
She was taken aback by the forward statement. "What?"p  
  
He shrugged. "Move back home. If this is what you want, this is where you should be. We all missed you and we'd be thrilled to have you back permanently."p  
  
Kim looked down with a small regretful smile on her face. She had to change the subject, and she had to do it quick before any unwanted topics should surface.p  
  
"What about you; what have you been up to?", Kim asked as she briefly made eye contact with the man who still caused her heart to race.p  
  
He gave her a slight knowing grin. He knew what she was doing; but he'd let it go for now. "I opened up my dojo last year; it's on the corner of Shady Oaks; about two blocks away from The Youth Center; so I've been basically just really busy with that."p  
  
"Wow that's awesome--I know it's what you've always wanted to do." Her face lit up with her pride in him.p  
  
He nodded, smiling. "It most definitely is. And I owe it all to my years racing with Uncle John--the wages were lucrative enough to afford me my dream way before I ever thought possible."p  
  
"That's great; congratulations."p  
  
"Thank you."p  
  
The room was now filled with uncomfortable silence.p  
  
"So how is Kat?" Kim had noticed she wasn't at the party, and she was almost certain Tommy was still with her. p  
  
"She's good; as far as I know. It's been a few days since I've talked to her; we've both been very busy. She got the opportunity last year to go to London and train with a reputable ballet company in the West End; I was traveling everywhere racing at the time so she decided to jump on it."p  
  
"I bet it's hard--long distance relationship and all." She knew it had been for them.p  
  
Tommy just shrugged. "It can be. But by that time I was traveling so much with racing that we had gotten used to it. And before that we were rangers...things just never got real serious between us. I mean; we're a couple...very much a couple in some aspects, but we're nowhere near talking about marriage or any type of serious commitment. We both have things we want to do right now before taking those steps."p  
  
Kim could totally understand and respect that.p  
  
She looked up to see Tommy gazing at her with an expression that told her something was on his mind.p  
  
"Are you happy?"p  
  
That was about as straight forward as you can get.p  
  
Kim could feel him tugging her out of her comfort zone. "...with?" p  
  
He knew she was playing dumb. She knew that he knew, too.p  
  
"Life. Your relationship with...what's his name."p  
  
"Brian. Brian Malloy."p  
  
"Whatever. So does he make you happy?"p  
  
Kim bit her lip nervously. "He can be very wonderful to be around...every couple has their problems, too."p  
  
"Did I make you happy?" The question slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to fully decide whether he wanted it asked.p  
  
And it had definitely caught Kim off guard.p  
  
She had to fight to hold the tears back as she held his gaze for the first time all evening. She couldn't pull her eyes away--not for this. p  
  
"Yes..you did. Make me very happy."p  
  
That was all Tommy needed before his heart decided to give her a taste of what that happiness felt like. His mouth descended on hers at a slow yet quick pace; creating the most decadent kiss ever to be felt on someone's lips. p  
  
  
  
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Well, guys; that's the end of Chapter One! This fic, in some shape, form, or fashion; has been my brain ever since Kim wrote the Letter way back in the day, and it feels so good to get it out there where it can be seen. I so hope you enjoyed it and please, please review whether it's praise or constructive criticism...p  
  
And for those of you who are wondering; part two of the Prologue for Light Quest won't be too far along.p  
  
So if you want more of this story, please review; it will be much appreciated! :)p  
  
Thank you so much,p  
  
Mollyp 


End file.
